When Summitt first arrived at the University of Tennessee in 1974, women’s basketball was not even acknowledged by the NCAA as a sport. There were no such things as scholarships for female athletes, and often women’s basketball wasn’t even a full court game.

[Summitt] demanded college administrators take her sport seriously when few did. In the 1970s, Tennessee went into overtime during a game at Louisiana State. The men’s teams were scheduled to play next and, Dale Brown, the L.S.U. men’s coach, wanted the women to play their overtime period in an auxiliary gym, according to the Lady Vols. Summitt refused.

Later, when Tennessee officials asked whether Summitt was interested in coaching the men’s team, she replied, "Why is that considered a step up?"

Over the years, the Lady Buffs as they were still known played the Lady Vols four times. Tennessee came to Boulder twice, we went to Knoxville once and we played them in the NCAA tourney in Iowa City. I managed to attend all four of the games. First time Tennessee came to Boulder, the unranked Lady Buffs pulled off an upset. The other three times, both teams were ranked. Two of the times, the Vols were ranked #1. No we didn't beat the Vols after that first upset, but it was still fun to play them.

I well remember in Knoxville that the player comp tickets were in the rafters. CU treats it's opponents very well because they seat their fans behind the visitor bench.

I believe she was diagnosed about 5 years ago. But 64 is pretty young for Alzheimer's to kill someone.

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I remember well the day her diagnosis was announced. It was in August 2011. I had started a new job and we went to a welcome lunch at a sports bar. The place became silent when that came on Sportscenter.

So many nice words and stories thrown out there for Coach Summitt. One thing I found apt was Kornheiser on PTI calling her Babe Ruth. I find that so true - there is no Ruthian coach in women's college ball aside from her. Roger Maris and Barry Bonds could break Ruth's records, like Geno has broken some of Summitt's, but he will never be Summitt to the women's game.

So many nice words and stories thrown out there for Coach Summitt. One thing I found apt was Kornheiser on PTI calling her Babe Ruth. I find that so true - there is no Ruthian coach in women's college ball aside from her. Roger Maris and Barry Bonds could break Ruth's records, like Geno has broken some of Summitt's, but he will never be Summitt to the women's game.

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Yeah. Summitt is so much more than the stats on a page with her win %, conference & national titles, etc. She's on the Mt. Rushmore of importance to women's sports in the US.

So many nice words and stories thrown out there for Coach Summitt. One thing I found apt was Kornheiser on PTI calling her Babe Ruth. I find that so true - there is no Ruthian coach in women's college ball aside from her. Roger Maris and Barry Bonds could break Ruth's records, like Geno has broken some of Summitt's, but he will never be Summitt to the women's game.

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Yes and, much as I sometimes disliked her disdain at where her teams had been placed in the NCAA tournament, I have great respect for Pat. It takes somebody like Pat who became the head coach at age 22, in the days before Title IX to do what she did. Nobody, including Geno, compares to the barriers she broke.

Pretty much like Ceal. Ceal came to CU at a very young age in the days before Title IX. She was not Pat Summitt, but she put CU women's basketball on the map for about 10 years. It had dropped off before she retired.

Over the years, the Lady Buffs as they were still known played the Lady Vols four times. Tennessee came to Boulder twice, we went to Knoxville once and we played them in the NCAA tourney in Iowa City. I managed to attend all four of the games. First time Tennessee came to Boulder, the unranked Lady Buffs pulled off an upset. The other three times, both teams were ranked. Two of the times, the Vols were ranked #1. No we didn't beat the Vols after that first upset, but it was still fun to play them.

I well remember in Knoxville that the player comp tickets were in the rafters. CU treats it's opponents very well because they seat their fans behind the visitor bench.

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in fairness, the value of a UT women's ticket when Pat Summitt was coach was quite a bit more than that of a CU women's ticket

So many nice words and stories thrown out there for Coach Summitt. One thing I found apt was Kornheiser on PTI calling her Babe Ruth. I find that so true - there is no Ruthian coach in women's college ball aside from her. Roger Maris and Barry Bonds could break Ruth's records, like Geno has broken some of Summitt's, but he will never be Summitt to the women's game.

Yes and, much as I sometimes disliked her disdain at where her teams had been placed in the NCAA tournament, I have great respect for Pat. It takes somebody like Pat who became the head coach at age 22, in the days before Title IX to do what she did. Nobody, including Geno, compares to the barriers she broke.

Pretty much like Ceal. Ceal came to CU at a very young age in the days before Title IX. She was not Pat Summitt, but she put CU women's basketball on the map for about 10 years. It had dropped off before she retired.

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I recently told JR of something I heard Bobby Knight say in an interview shortly after Pat became ill. "Pat Summitt is the best ever. The rest of us are just pretenders."

in fairness, the value of a UT women's ticket when Pat Summitt was coach was quite a bit more than that of a CU women's ticket

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We were ranked 7th in the country and had a large following. La Tech did the same thing to us. Those two teams gave player comps the worst seats during CU's glory years.

Iowa's player comps were also horrible but CU was not a good team. However, they do play good teams.

CU has always had player comp seats behind the visitor's bench as long as I remember, at least on the women's side. Did on the men's side when I was a season ticket holder, but I stopped those when Chauncey left.

We were ranked 7th in the country and had a large following. La Tech did the same thing to us. Those two teams gave player comps the worst seats during CU's glory years.

Iowa's player comps were also horrible but CU was not a good team. However, they do play good teams.

CU has always had player comp seats behind the visitor's bench as long as I remember, at least on the women's side. Did on the men's side when I was a season ticket holder, but I stopped those when Chauncey left.

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It's the right thing to do. Why act like bush leaguers when you want to be perceived as big time?

ESPN's Mechelle Voepel did a nice job with her piece on the celebration eulogy for Pat Summit. The video playlist of all the speeches are very moving. The way she touched so many lives is what makes sports great and can make coaching such a noble profession.